


Loyalties

by Periphyton



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: 3 very small personal head canons, Episode: s02e01 The Avatar State, Episode: s03e11 The Day of Black Sun Part 2, Fire Nation 41st division, Fire nation citizen's expressing their loyalties to the Royal Family, Gen, Order of the White Lotus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-16 07:33:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29572530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Periphyton/pseuds/Periphyton
Summary: Three very short personal head canons I have, about just how loyal some the Fire Nation citizens really are to Fire Lord Ozai and his war. Gives context to a few interactions in the listed episodes.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 33
Collections: Non-Ship Fics of AtLA





	Loyalties

**Safe harbor**

“You heard the Princess! We’re bringing the prisoners home!” 

The captain knew exactly what he had said. He didn’t have to fake his fear of what retribution awaited him at the Princesses hands, but he made his choice without regret. His brother had served General Iroh in the siege of Ba Sing Se, and even after losing a foot to an earthbender he made it clear to his family which one of Fire Lord Azulon’s sons he was still loyal to. General Iroh had saved his brother's life, and he would accept the consequence of giving his brother’s General as much of a chance as he could. Even if it meant being dashed against the rocks by the tide. 

His brother would understand.

**On the wrong side**

Wang Li had never been a studious boy in school. He was always drawing on the edges of his papers, little doodles of ink and brush strokes that were more precise than the test answers. His father often complained about how useless he was as a firstborn son, compared to his perfect younger sister. 

When he told his father that he had been accepted to the Royal Department of Artistry, it still didn’t impress the man. _‘Finally you’re at least doing something with yourself, after wasting all that time in school drawing instead of studying_.’ Something like that. But Wang Li worked hard to serve his country, drawing the finest pictures and portraits of the Fire Nation’s heroes, the men and women who served the Fire Lord and risked their lives to subdue the barbaric Earth Kingdom. He gave the men who betrayed their country with their cowardice nowhere to hide, there was no place that he couldn’t send his portraits to expose their faces to the world. He was loyal to the Fire Lord, and proud of his little sister. She was the one who could bend fire and brought honor to their family when she was old enough to enlist.

Until the day he learned that she was killed, along with the rest of the 41st division. 

He kept his job. He had no choice, no other profession he could turn to, and he knew he was being watched along with other people who had lost family members in the 41st. He also knew who had spoken out against his sister being set up for a massacre. So when the time came to draw the wanted poster of the burned and banished prince for his failure to capture the Avatar, he made sure to get that assignment. After the prototype had gotten the official stamp of the Fire Lords seal, he finished it on his own. It wasn’t much, but it was the only thing he could do to protect the identity of the Prince who risked everything to save his baby sister. If anyone tried to capture Prince Zuko based on his wanted poster, he could at least try to claim that it wasn’t him, because the scar was on the wrong side. 

**Whistling in the dark**

Qin was nobody, and that was his greatest asset. He was just another servant who kept his head down and served in the Fire Lords palace. Another random face, bringing papers, serving tea, and adjusting the curtains when they got singed. Fire Lord Ozai couldn’t pick his face out of the rest of the servants if his life depended on it. Which was too bad, because for eight minutes, it did. 

He knew the Avatar and his friends would be here at the Capitol on the Day of Black Sun. The Grand Master of the White Lotus himself had told him this, when Qin had gone to inform the guards that Fire Lord Ozai wanted a report if Prince Zuko ever came to visit his uncle. The guards had laughed at the thought that the newly restored Prince would bother to visit his disgraced uncle, who at that moment was losing an argument about Pai Sho with his own shadow. 

Now he walked the corridors of the underground bunker, whistling an ancient tune about the moon's reflection in a pond surrounded by lotus flowers. When he heard footsteps and children's voices he whistled louder so they could hear him. 

Then the Avatar was there, standing before him, with the Water Tribe boy and the blind Earth girl. These children were here for war, as fierce and dangerous as any Fire Nation soldier. 

“The Fire Lord’s chamber is that way, down the hall, to the left, and up the stairs. You can’t miss it.”

“Thanks!” The Avatar actually smiled at him, and then left before he had time to bow in honor. He wiped his hand against his face, and then kept whistling in defiance. The Fire Lord may have banned the music and dances that he deemed frivolous and unpatriotic, but things were about to change.

**Author's Note:**

> This explains a few things, doesn't it? The captain knew what he was doing, the wrong graphics on the wanted poster were deliberate, and that random guy whistling in the underground bunkers on the day of the invasion wasn't so random. Just people doing the best they could to survive, and undermine a fascist dictator who cared nothing about his citizens.


End file.
